Bush to give press conference 1415 GMT Monday

US President George W. Bush will hold a press conference at 9:15 am (1415 GMT) Monday, the White House said, eight days before he leaves office to make way for incoming president Barack Obama.

Bush, in what could be his final press conference as president, will begin with a "general" statement and then make "laudatory" comments about the press corps, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

But he is also likely to be questioned about the global economic crisis, the status of the 700-billion-dollar US bank bailout, Israel's war in Gaza and controversy over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The conference in the White House press briefing room comes on the day the transition to Bush's successor takes a significant step, with the president-elect sitting down in Washington for his first meeting with a head of state -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon -- since winning the November 4 election.

It also follows an explosive weekend report in The New York Times that Bush last year rejected a secret Israeli request for an air strike against Iran's main nuclear complex using US bombs.

The request was made last year by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who wanted US bunker-busting bombs and permission to fly over Iraq to attack Iran's major uranium enrichment complex at Natanz, the report said.

But top US administration officials led by Defense Secretary Robert Gates had convinced Bush that any overt attack on Iran would prove ineffective, lead to the expulsion of international inspectors and drive Iran's nuclear program deeper underground, the daily said.

The report, citing unnamed senior US and foreign officials, said Bush had authorized a new covert operation aimed at sabotaging Iran's suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons.